Abstract

The Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, northwestern Montana, and northern Idaho displays great environmental diversity in which small sites are a typical archaeological manifestation. Interpretation of data from individual sites by themselves is often difficult because of sparse cultural deposits. However, if the sites are considered as activity areas within larger environmentally defined units, hypotheses can be generated which will allow for efficient and meaningful data retrieval from individual sites if their excavation is necessary. In this paper, site patterning in three distinct econiches is interpreted utilizing prey species ecology and ethnographic data. Site density, spatial relationships, and functional complexity are hypothesized to be strongly related to whether moose, deer, or bison were the prey.